Browse the latest catalogs, newsletters, and e-lists of rare books, fine bindings, incunabula, print ephemera, and much more from the members of the ABAA below. (Also includes podcasts, blog posts, and other digital formats.)
*New* indicates any catalogs brought to our attention since the early May 2024.
AARDVARK BOOKS/EZRA TISHMAN BOOK APPRAISALS
- March Exit Stage Left List
- March Lion List (March 2024)
Featured item:
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus
MITCHELL'S NATIONAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES; (Leather, with Brass Clasp and Two Foldout Maps)
Philadelphia, PA: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, 1843. First Edition. Leather-bound. 12mo. (7 1/4 in. x 4 1/2 in.) Rich dark-brown leather, double ruled in blind, brightly lettered and ornamented in gilt. Rays of the sun in an arch above the lettering to front board; this repeated to rear board with the addition of an eagle, with wings outspread holding an American shield in its beak, grasping an olive branch with his right talon, and a brace of arrows in its left. All this above ta cloud-construct with a large banner ("E. Pluribus Unum" above and "United States" below. Recent conservator's touch-up to previously lightly rubbed extremities.
Two lovely colored mounted folding MAPS in clean, bright condition.
The first map (34 1/2 in. x 25 1/2 in, and bordered in lovely rose and yellow) is entitled: "A CONCISE VIEW OF THE NUMBER, RESOURCES, AND INDUSTRY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THE YEAR 1840: Comprising the Different Classes of the Inhabitants, Population of the Principal Cities and Towns, THE CHIEF AGRICULTURAL, MINERAL, AND MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS, EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF EACH SEPARATE STATE; The most important Canals and Rail-Roads, the Lengths of the Principal Rivers, and the Heights of the Principal Mountains in the United States". The format is a large central chart of statistics, surrounded by 32 separate 3 1/2 in. x 3 in. mini-maps in yellow, green, rose and black, depicting Vicinities of various U.S. cities or states. The larger central chart (16 1/2 in. x 16 in.) includes statistics on Aggregate of the Different Classes (Men, Women, White, Colored, Number of Slaves); Several very short tears along folds.
The second fold-out map is a bright, multicolored map of the (then) entire United States, the title of which is: "Mitchell's National Map of the American Republic Or United States of North America (Together with Maps of The Vicinities of Thirty-Two of the Principal Cities and Towns in The Nation), Clearly intended as the overall title to the entire two-map leather-housed, brass-clasped endeavor, including the first map described above. A lovely copy of this beautiful cartographic endeavor, drawn by H. Young and engraved by J.H. Brightly, with classy gilt designs to both front and rear boards. Near Fine.
Offered by Aardvark Books and found in "March Lion List."
Featured item:
BARNUM, P. T. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS).
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Bridgeport, CT, 30 January 1877. A two-page letter on the front and verso of a 5-1/8" x 8" sheet with a blue ink stamp of Barnum addressed to an unknown recipient regarding employment and SIGNED as "P. T. Barnum."
In part: "You are declining the American tour…. My respected father-in-law is I fear rather too timid. My son-in-law … filled the position of traveling Treasurer 4 or 5 years without inquiry, and hundreds are doing the same every year. We think it is a most healthy calling. It is lively, busy & exciting, but not sickening nor killing. My partners would only have allowed $25 per week & I should have paid the other $15 from my own pocket for the sake of having you see if the business would suit you, and also see if an opening could be made for you whereby you could gain an independence. The disappointment to me is not at all serious on my account—more so on yours. But it is all for the best no doubt. I still think I shall have a permanent place of amusement in New York City, where you can have a situation & a chance to own an interest which will be sure to be valuable. We will talk it up when we meet.”
Scattered toning and soiling,
Offered by Charles Agvent and found in "African-Americana, Magic/Circus, Etc."
ANTIPODEAN BOOKS, MAPS, PRINTS
- E-list #44 ~ W.W.I., Americana, Australia, Photographs, Maps, Ephemera
- E-list #43 ~ Antipodean Books at the Brooklyn Virtual Book Fair
Featured item:
Jay, T. S. The International Fur Store 198 & 163 Regent Street.
London: The International Fur Store, [ca. 1885]. 8vo (10” x 6”), chromolithographically illustrated cardstock covers, blue cloth spine, a.e.g. Frontis., [2] pp. text, 25 color plates with text opposite, 1 p. ad.
CONDITION: Light rubbing to wrappers; spine rebacked with blue cloth strip; contents clean and bright.
This scarce trade catalogue features twenty-five plates showing models wearing various fur garments, with such names as Marcelle, the Danae, Heloise, Medea, Tristran, Latona, York, Cynthea, Maguier, and so on. A short description appears opposite each plate, e.g., “Fife. Long semi-fitting Seal Mantle, fastened on left side with silk ornament and cords.” The text spells out the philosophy of the business; addresses its American clientele; notes that its furs are sourced from all over the world; and relates that “a critic surveying an American lady as she tried on the sealskin ulster that had been made for her at the Store declared that it fitted her as mathematically as the fur had its original owner.” The store itself included showrooms, fitting-rooms, skin-rooms, keeping-rooms for storing furs, quilting rooms, and more, and was also something of a cabinet of curiosities, with a “large collection of mounted animals, suitable for museums, halls &c., including lions, tigers, bears, seals, monkeys, squirrels [and] mounted horns.” The illustration on the title page depicts a female customer in a fur coat greeting a stuffed bear; the front wrapper shows a bear pushing a furclad woman, decked in a bear rug, on a sled.
Established in 1882, the International Fur Store was managed by T. S. Jay. Unlike other 19th century furriers that promoted the exclusivity of their stores, Jay created a shop for all classes. Leaflets and trade cards advertised “the finest furs in the world” at low prices, and in the most up-to-date fashions. Sealskin coats and jackets, and other articles made from sable, sea otter, and silver fox skins were also sold. The Store remained open until at least 1938. T. S. Jay’s father operated an establishment that was also located on Regent St., called William Chickall Jay’s London General Mourning Warehouse (est. 1841), which supplied fashionable mourning attire for the well-to-do, as well as offering goods in a wide price-range to attract the lower classes. No copies recorded in OCLC.
Offered by James Arsenault & Company and found in "Short List #4."
- Artists' Books and Exhibition Catalogues: Electronic List 146 *New*
- French World War I Print Portfolios, Drawings, Photographs, Periodicals & Livres d'artistes: Electronic List 145
- EVOLVING HISTORY of IDEAS (New York Book Fair)
- Catalog 24: LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN – THE MAN and HIS THOUGHT
-
19th Century Decorated Paper Bindings, Decorated Cloth Bindings and Historic Works New York Book & Ephemera Fair Catalog
W. C. BAKER RARE BOOKS & EPHEMERA
- New Arrivals in History (Newsletter)
- Spring 2024 Catalog
Featured item:
BEARD, Henry N., Douglas C. Kenney of The Harvard Lampoon
Bored of the Rings: A Parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
(New York): Signet / New American Library, (1969). Softcover. First edition. Paperback original. Page edges uniformly toned, tiny tear at the crown, else near fine.
Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books and found in "eList 200."
BLUEMANGO BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS
- Caldecott Winning Illustrators Series: Peggy Rathmann (Blog) *New*
- Best Quotes from Ursula K. Le Guin (Blog)
Featured item:
A fine plan, quite scarce, of the shambolic British attack on Charleston, South Carolina in June 1776. Blessed by a fine harbor and proximity to the Lowcountry indigo and rice plantations, Charleston had the largest urban population south of Philadelphia and was the wealthiest city in the Colonies. During the Revolution it was much coveted by the British, who worked under the false assumption that the South had a high percentage of Loyalists, needing only some encouragement to rise up and help put down the rebellion. Charleston was thus the target of not one but two major British campaigns, in 1776 and again in 1780. This plan depicts the first, which ended quickly and ignominiously at the June 1776 Battle of Sullivan’s Island, where South Carolina militia withstood a British attack on the fortifications protecting the seaward approaches to the city. The British plan suffered from imperfect intelligence about both the strength of the American fort at Sullivan’s Island and the hydrography of the surrounding waters. The attacking fleet suffered heavy casualties and serious damage to many of its vessels, and subsequently limped north to join Howe’s New York campaign. This rare and important British chart depicts Charleston Harbor and its immediate surroundings, with a detailed treatment of the battle. The chart was based on surveys conducted by the Royal Navy during the campaign and was first published on August 31, 1776, little more than two months after the battle. The example offered here is a slightly-later issue bearing a date of 1791, with very substantial re-engraving of the waters around Charleston. It seems plausible that this new information was obtained from surveys conducted during and after the British capture of the city in 1780. The Charleston campaign of 1780 was a different matter altogether: In May of that year a British army under Lord Cornwallis captured the city after a siege and took thousands of American prisoners, marking one of the worst Continental Army defeats of the war. In all, a most interesting plan, depicting an important American victory early in the Revolution. Nebenzahl, Atlas, pp. 55-57 (illus.) Nebenzahl, Bibliography, 65. Sellers & Van Ee, 1548 (noting only the 1776 edition).
Offered by Boston Rare Maps and found in "From Riot to Revolution."
- Brattlecast #180: Life Magazine Trends (Podcast)
- Brattlecast #179: The Bartending Book (Podcast)
Featured item:
London: E. Wallis, (c. 1830). Small octavo. 48ff. Illustrated with twelve sets of seven hand-colored full-page engravings. Blow books operate by tabs incised into their edges, so that the magician can hold his thumb to one tab and show a single set of images, with the conceit that those images comprise the entire volume. The magician then changes tabs or opens the book in the other direction—often after an audience member has blown on it, hence the title of the genre—and a different set of illustrations "magically" arise. Included among the images are a woman selling broadsheets, a parrot, a Highland infantryman, a mounted lancer, a steam-ship, a ballet dancer, and a man with a performing bear. Marginal soiling to first four leaves, otherwise near fine and bright in original patterned teal cloth, housed in original matching slipcase, titled in gilt on upper panel. Slipcase has two small abraded spots and light shelfwear.
Offered by Bromer Booksellers and found in "New York Book Fair 2024."
ANDREW CAHAN, BOOKSELLER, LTD.
- E-List 25: Highlights at the 64th New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
- E-List 24: February Miscellany
- From the library of John Henry Nash -- list available on request from info@carpediemfinebooks.com...
- New Arrivals
- Inhabited by Winston (January 2022)
- Winston for Your Walls
Featured item:
(Burton, Richard F) Camoens, Luis de.
London: Bernard Quaritch, 1880, 1881, 1884. First editions. 6 vols. Small 8vo. Publisher’s light green cloth gilt, t.e.g. Very good plus, clean fresh copies. Penzer pp. 104-5.
Offered by James Cummins Bookseller and found in "April Arrivals."
- THE LUNAR VOYAGE FROM THE 17th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT -- In conjunction with the RBMS and the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- Popular Fiction 1814-1939: Selections from the Anthony Tino Collection -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- E-list: Photographic Archives, Latin-Americana, African-Americana, Lincoln Conspirators, American Indian History, and More -- Joint catalog with Auger Down Books
DE SIMONE COMPANY, BOOKSELLERS
- New Arrivals (May 2, 2024) *New*
- Shaker Books, Ephemera and Photography
- Catalog #88, Medical Books from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Centuries -- This catalog is print-only. To request a copy, contact MedBks@aol.com...
Featured item:
In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas [Bibliographically Significant "Skycrapers" Copy]
McMurtry, Larry
Notes: A rare copy of the first edition of this legendary literary rarity, the first printing of Larry McMurtry's first book of essays. The book is well-known among book collectors as the "skycrapers" printing, because of that typo on line 12 of page 105. This copy has page 105 (specifically the sheet with pages 105 to 108) in BOTH issues, with skyscrapers spelled correctly and incorrectly.
However, this copy does not have the other errors, like "in in" on page 56, line 2; or the line beginning "Mr. Brammer" duplicated in paragraph two of page 134. A year after the publication of this book, Deborah Detering Pannill, a University of Texas at Austin student, wrote a thorough term paper on Encino Press and interviewed the publisher, Bill Wittliff. After the errors in McMurtry's book were discovered, "at first Wittliff thought he could salvage some of those printed but finally they decided to destroy the edition and reprint it.”
What Wittliff meant by "salvage" was not clear until this copy came to light. Only part of the edition had been bound when the errors were discovered. This copy proves that Wittliff attempted to salvage the book by reprinting the pages with errors and replacing them in the unbound copies. In the case of this copy, the corrected sheet was laid on top of the incorrect "skycrapers" text, causing pages 105 to 108 to be duplicated.
McMurtry's first collection of essays, covering Texas history, Texas writers, cowboys, and as a coda to The Last Picture Show, sex in Archer City, Texas has been popular with collectors since its first publication. This is (so far) the only known copy with the famous "skycrapers" page in both issues.
Estimates of the number of surviving copies of the "skycrapers" first printing vary, with typical numbers given as 10–20. The book is not that rare. Realistically, the number of copies is probably two or three times that many. Even so, for a book distributed to the public (as opposed to a limited edition destined for collectors), 50 copies is vanishingly small print run in a state as large as Texas. Probably the scarcest of all McMurtry books.
Your cataloguer has published an essay and bibliography of this book on his Substack.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing with the "skycrapers" error). A near fine copy in a very good, first issue dust jacket (with "wtih" in paragraph five, line three of the front flap). The jacket has light shelfwear and a crease along the front flap edge. The book is signed by McMurtry on the front free endpaper. A previously unrecorded and perhaps unique variant of the first printing, in above average condition for this book.
Publication: Austin, TX: Encino Press, 1968.
Offered by Downtown Brown Books and found in "List 106: Some Interesting Associations."
EDITIO ALTERA RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- New York Book Fair 2024 (Revised)
- The Century of Women
- Comic collection of William "Gatz" Hjortsberg -- Details available upon request from info@elkriverbooks.com...
- Highlights from the ABAA Virtual Book Fair
- April 2024 *New*
- March 2024
RODGER FRIEDMAN RARE BOOK STUDIO
- OCCASIONAL LIST 22: A Miscellany: Original Art Work; Small Archive of Major English Watercolourist; Interesting Theatrical Pieces; Manuscript Material, Etc., Etc. -- available on request from fgrare@fgrarebooks.com...
- Has the following lists available: California, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Louisiana, Colorado, Ohio and New York. Will email to interested parties. Contact info@ginsbook.com to request...
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THOMAS A. GOLDWASSER RARE BOOKS
DAVID A. HAMILTON AMERICANA BOOKS
JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER, INC.
- elist 244 New Arrivals in Poetry Photography Art Literature *New*
- elist 243 New Arrivals in Poetry Photography Art Literature
Featured item:
BOWLES, Paul
A Little Stone
London: John Lehmann, 1950. First edition and first printing. Hardcover. 222 pages. Bowle's second book of fiction, a collection of 12 short stories. A clean and tight near fine copy in light green cloth boards with some slight sunning to the spine ends and in a very near fine dust jacket with some very minute wear. A bright copy of this early book from the author of the classic novel "The Sheltering Sky."
Offered by Jeff Hirsch Books and found in "elist 244."
Featured item:
Theodore M. Hampe. “The Spider and the Fly.”
No place, circa 1905. $4800. Original illustration by California artist Theodore Hampe (1877- 1965) for an unidentified publication of Mary Howitt’s 1829 poem “The Spider and the Fly.” Hampe’s male arachnid luring a female fly into his web illustrates Howitt’s opening line: “Will you walk into my parlour?” That famous line, often misquoted as “come (or step) into my parlour,” remains a widely recognized aphorism for false overtures of friendship. So well-known was Howitt’s cautionary tale that Lewis Carroll parodied it in his “Mock Turtle’s Song” in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
The expressions of the two figures and exquisite details of their costumes exemplify Hampe’s deft hand at small brush technique and mastery of color and shading. The fly perches on the bottommost line of the web, which leads the viewer’s eye back to the seductive host at its epicenter, completing a visually satisfying composition. A splendidly detailed and preserved illustration.
Offered by Honey & Wax Booksellers and found in "Graphic and Performing Arts."
Featured item:
1950s THEATER and FILM MAKE-UP and LIGHTING EPHEMERA COLLECTION
9.5" x 12.75" notebook with photos and ephemera on lighting and make-up for the theater and films. It includes ten 4"x 5" snapshots with eight snaps of a woman in different stages of make-up, six duplicate brochures of "Makeup for the theater," bags with an illustration of a woman putting on lipstick, hand-drawn illustrations, a typewritten report "an introduction to motion picture lighting" by Norman G Dyhrenfurth, who was a Swiss American mountaineer and filmmaker. He was the leader of the successful American Mount Everest expedition of 1963. There is also a bill to Gil Haimsohn, who was a known Hollywood Sound Editor and a Clairol Hair-coloring workbook.
Offered by House of Mirth Photos and found in "Spring 2024."
- You've Got Mail *New*
- Black American Artists *New*
Featured item:
Keefer, A.M. "Bert"
Four holographic letters written between 1908 and 1913 by hard-rock miner A.M. “Bert” Keefer to his friend Frank M. Duncan in Carson City and Reno, Nevada. The letters informally report on the progress in underground mining operations in Nevada, as well as the social news.
Keefer’s first letter, dated November 9, 1908, was written in “Sonoma” and postmarked Sweetwater, Nevada. “I am working in the tunnel for the Judge,” he wrote. “I have been in solid quartz for 13 feet, I struck it the second day I worked. It is harder than blazes and some of it looks good.” He also wrote about closing his saloon and selling off the equipment.
In 1911, Keefer wrote that he was still working mines in Sweetwater, where he had to dig 185 feet for a vein: “It will take about a week to cross cut the vein, and if it don’t show any values, I think it will be off … it is the best looking vein on the surface I have seen in the country and should carry some values if there is any in the country. But you know, gold is pretty scarce in this country.”
On June 15, 1913, Keefer wrote that he was working on the Reno Yerrington Mine, four miles from the town of Yerrington. Due to its remote location, his wife, Della, and child are not with him: “I stay up at the mine and walk down twice a week for mail,” he wrote. “I am working in the shaft sinking, it is ninety feet deep and real good hard rock too.”
Two of Bert’s letters, in 1911 and 1912, include gossipy notes written by Della to Pearl, apparently Frank’s daughter, about current events and people. There is also one letter written to Frank by George P. Cortigue from Sweetwater about mining efforts.
The letters are in very good condition and are housed in their original mailing envelopes. They provide an interesting view of the difficult and transient nature of mining life in the early 1900s.
Offered by johnson rare books & archives and found in "You've Got Mail."
Featured item:
Austin, Alice.
To the Ocean.
Philadelphia: Alice Austin, 2018.
Special edition with unique hand-made wooden box. Number 7 of 15 copies. This piece was produced in 3 different versions: the deluxe edition (1-6) is now sold out; the special edition (7-11) is issued in unique wooden boxes with specimens; and the regular edition (12-15) is the book only. In this elaborate work comprised of a hand-printed book, a collection of specimens, and hand-made box, Austin memorializes her walks along the shores of the ocean through poetry and lino-cuts. Her verse describes creatures encountered and beaches traversed. The supporting lino-cut illustrations depict an array of shells, horseshoe crab, and more. Physical specimens of most of the items illustrated are included in the accompanying box.
The accordion book is bound in Twin Rocker hand-made grey paper wrappers with black title and blue lino-cut scallop shells to the front panel. It is letterpress printed in Cheltenham Italic type on Somerset paper. Housed in a custom made unique cherry wood box with legs, with a vintage type drawer incorporated. The box was hand-made by Wilfredo Rodriquez of Philadelphia. It contains multiple compartments within, which hold treasures from the ocean including: a dog whelk, slipper snail, beach glass, periwinkle (Maine); moon snail, scallop, horseshoe crab tail (New Jersey); fishing float fragment, limpet (Ireland); an origami boat and a booklet listing the contents - both created by the artist.
Alice Austin is a printmaker, book artist and painter living and working in Philadelphia. She has been on the faculty at the University of the Arts, teaching book structures, and has also taught workshops at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, The Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and other institutions. She earned a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and has been an active member of the Guild of Book Workers since 1998. She worked as a rare book and paper conservator for over 20 years at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Alice has also been awarded several artist residencies in Europe, and her work is widely held in private, public and special collections worldwide.
Book Size: 8.5 x 9.5 x 1 inches. Box size: 12.5 x 12.75 x 3.5 inches. Fine.
Offered by Kelmscott Bookshop and found in "Earth Day Book Arts (Part II)".
JOHN W. KNOTT, JR., BOOKSELLER
Featured item:
THE FEDS. June 1937. (Volume 2, No. 4). John L. Nanovic, editor.
New York: Street and Smith Publishing, Inc., 1937. Octavo, single issue, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine. Lead feature is "Public Hero No. 1-The Life Story of John Edgar Hoover and the F.B.I." Also includes a Steve Fisher novelette. Cook, Mystery, Detective and Espionage Magazines, pp. 237-239. Tanning to text paper, still supple, mild edge wear, small paper loss at the head of the spine, light damp stain to verso of lower front edge.
Offered by John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller and found in "New Arrivals: Pulps."
- Catalog #74: 100 Rare Books -- with an emphasis on history and military affairs. Please request from mail@kubikbooks.com...
MICHAEL LAIRD RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Thirty Association Items (April 30, 2024) *New*
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American & Continental Law, 1498-1974 (April 23, 2024)
DAVID M. LESSER, FINE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS
LIBER ANTIQUUS, EARLY PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- September Illustrated and Children's New Arrivals
- Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat and Related Persian Expressions
J. & J. LUBRANO MUSIC ANTIQUARIANS
- Rare First and Early Editions of the Works of George Frideric Handel 1685-1759 *New*
- Catalogue 101 New Acquisitions
Featured item:
Aetius [Ezio] an Opera as it is Perform'd at the Kings Theatre in the Hay Market.
London: Printed for and Sold by I: Walsh Musick Printer & Instrument maker to his Majesty at the Harp and Hoboy in Catherine Street in the Strand, [1732]. Folio. Modern quarter mid-tan calf with marbled boards, dark red morocco title label gilt to upper. 1f. (title), 1f. (recto "A Table of Songs," verso blank), 91, (blank) pp. The music comprises the overture, arias, and final chorus. Named singers include Senesino and Signoras Strada, Bagnolesi, and Bertolli. Text added in pencil to pp. 47-51. Binding slightly worn and bumped. Occasional light browning, soiling, and small stains; several leaves trimmed at lower margin with loss to figured bass; loss to lower outer margin of p. 47, not affecting music; foot of page 50 trimmed, just touching bass figuring. A very good copy overall.
Provenance: The noted Handel collector Godfrey E. Arkwright (1864-1944), and then Gilbert Samuel Inglefield (1909- 1991), Lord Mayor of London, with their bookplates to front pastedown and front free endpaper, respectively; small decorative oval handstamp "Thos. Gill No. 18" to title. First Edition. Smith p. 23, no. 1. BUC p. 426. RISM H130 and HH130 (3 copies only in the U.S.). Aetius, to a libretto by Metastasio, was first performed in London at the King's Theatre on 15 January 1732. "The opera was a failure, attaining only five performances, the lowest total for any of Handel's London operas before Berenice. ... The first modern revival was at Göttingen in 1926, two years after Leichtentritt had described it as one of the most stageworthy of Handel's operas." Dean: Handel's Operas 1726-1741, p. 206.
Offered by J. & J. Lubrano Music Antiquarians and found in "Rare First and Early Editions of the Works of George Frideric Handel."
STUART LUTZ HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
- List of 77 Mark Twain First Editions and Ephemera available by request from info@macdonnellrarebooks.com (specify elist or paper copy).
MAIN STREET FINE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- May Miscellany of 14 items spanning Black Power, Punk, Pinbacks, Posters, Underground Press, Planned Parenthood, etc. *New*
- Zines, LGBTQ+, 3rd Wave Feminist, and Other New Arrivals
- Illustrated Catalog on Carlos Merida (1891–1984) -- Mexican painter, sculptor, writer and graphic designer -- available by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
- Latin America
MARTAYAN LAN RARE BOOKS & MAPS
- A New Perspective
- A Selection of 22 Broadsides, Separately Published Prints, Maps and Pamphlets, 1568-1872
Featured item:
JAMNITZER, Wenzel / AMMAN, Jost. Perspectiva corporum regularium.
Nuremberg, Christoph Heussler, 1568. Folio. Engraved title, 49 full page illustrations, engraved by Jost Amman after the drawings of Jamnitzer. 18th-century half vellum over boards, green silk ties.
First and only edition of this remarkable work, an exceptional collaboration between the most famous goldsmith of its time, the personal goldsmith to four kings, Wenzel Jamnitzer (ca. 1507-1585) and the prolific Swiss engraver Jost Amman (1539-1591), considered the creator of the German illustrated book. The Perspectiva is regarded as the most important illustrated work on the solid bodies of the 16th century in the German-speaking world.
Offered by Martayan Lan Rare Books & Maps and found in "A New Perspective."
- e-catalog #99: Books from the Collection of Cameron Allan
- Children’s Dance Theater Archive of Carla Blank and Jody Roberts -- Offered jointly with Kate Mitas, Bookseller. Details available on request from maser@detritus.com...
BRUCE MCKITTRICK RARE BOOKS, INC.
- New York Book Fair 2024
- Art (in) Books: 16th-19th-century books and manuscripts relating to painting, icons, portraiture, ornament, or the decorative arts
- Louis M. Jason's book Literary (and Other) Celebrity Doodles II is now available. Contact the store at info@mysterypierbooks.com to order...
- Father's Day Gift Offerings
Featured item:
Nash, Ray.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press for the Society of Printers, 1955. 8vo. cloth-backed patterned paper-covered boards, dust jacket. xii, 144 pages of text followed by 64 pages containing 80 reproductions of title pages.
First edition, limited to 1500 copies. Jacket spine toned, else a near fine copy. Issued on the 50th anniversary of this distinguished group of printers. Traces the "development of printing processes, typographic styles and the arts and crafts movement." Reference to Dwiggins, Rogers, etc.
Offered by Oak Knoll Books and found in "Extravagant Taste: Examples of Fine Book Design."
- Catalog 65, May 2024 -- by subscription only. Contact oldwestbooks@earthlink.net for details about obtaining a copy.
PHILLIP J. PIRAGES FINE BOOKS & MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS
Featured item:
SOUVENIRS DE MADAME DE CAYLUS.
(VELLUM PRINTING). (BINDINGS - GRUEL). CAYLUS, [MARTHE-MARGUERITE LE VALOIS DE VILLETTE DE MURÇAY], COMTESSE DE.
(Paris: J. Techener, 1860). 198 x 125 mm. (7 3/4 x 4 3/4"). 2 p.l., xlv, [iii], 268, [4] pp. Nouvelle Edition, ONE OF TWO KNOWN COPIES PRINTED ON VELLUM.
SUPERB CRIMSON CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, BY GRUEL (stamp-signed at foot of spine and on front doublure), covers gilt in an animated design featuring a central lion rampant surrounded by three frames formed by volutes, fleurons, and gilt rules, raised bands, spine compartments with central fleur-de-lys within a similar frame, gilt lettering, NAVY MOROCCO DOUBLURES framed by gilt rule and catkins forming compartments with fleurs-de-lys and fleurons, leather hinges, burgundy silk free endleaves, all edges gilt. Text within gilt-ruled borders, title page with hand-painted arms of Madame de Caylus in colors and brushed gold, and FIVE SEPIA PEN-AND-WASH DRAWINGS THAT WERE USED AS THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK FOR THE ENGRAVINGS in this work, all framed in gold, the illustrations comprising: the portrait of Madame de Caylus after a painting by Daullé in her lifetime; Madame de Montespan acting as Femme de Chambre to Mademoiselle de la Vallière; the Reconciliation of the King with Madame de Montespan; the Promenade of Madame de Maintenon and Madame de Montchevreuil in the Forest of Fontainebleu; and the Prince de Condé seized by smallpox. A Large Paper [Vellum] Copy. Verso of front free endleaf with morocco bookplate of Robert Hoe. Brunet I, 1705: "One copy printed on vellum with the arms of M[adame] de Caylus painted on the title page, a gold frame and five original sepia drawings enhanced with gold, 660 fr sold from the Jos. Techener bookstore (1865)."
Half title and final page with faint overall toning, margin of one plate with one-inch ink mark (possibly done during production?), isolated faint smudges, other trivial imperfections, but A VERY LOVELY COPY, the vellum smooth and creamy, and the unworn the binding with especially lustrous leather and glittering gilt.
This is a beautifully bound, appropriately ultra-deluxe copy of a luxurious edition of the memoirs of a noblewoman raised at the court of the Sun King, the book printed on vellum and from a very distinguished private collection. In the text, Madame de Caylus (1673-1729) offers an insider's account of perhaps the most glittering court Europe has ever known. As the cousin of Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's morganatic wife, she was privy to all the intrigues surrounding the royal household. This work was first published by Voltaire in 1770, but the present edition is considered the best. Brunet mentions one vellum copy that matches the description of this one; we have seen one other copy on vellum, but its plates were without the gilt frames seen here, and the title page did not have the hand-painted coat of arms. The splendid binding is the work of one of the greatest French binding dynasties. In her "Bookbinders and their Craft," Prideaux says that the Gruel firm, founded in 1811, "has always had the highest reputation . . . for initiative in artistic matters, as well as for irreproachable execution in the detail of its many-sided achievements." Our binding stands as testament to the truth of this statement. The tooling is remarkable for the almost three-dimensional quality of the leaves, blossoms, vases, and volutes. There is a regal quality befitting the court of Louis XIV, with symbols of monarchy rendered in lavish gold, and with materials and workmanship of the highest quality. The Gruel bindery was managed by several family members over the years, most famously by Léon Gruel (1841-1923), and the list of binders who trained at the Gruel atelier is the most distinguished in Europe. The volume's provenance is suitably distinguished. According to Beverly Chew, the library of Robert Hoe (1839-1911), founding member and first president of the Grolier Club, was "the finest [America] has ever contained." Hoe acquired illuminated manuscripts, early printing (he owned a Gutenberg Bible on paper and one on vellum), fine bindings, French and English literature, and Americana, and when his library was sold in 1911-12, it fetched nearly $2 million, a record that held until the Streeter sale more than 50 years later.
Offered by Phillip J. Pirages and found in "2024 New Acquisitions List #8."
PRIMARY SOURCES, UNCHARTED AMERICANA
RABELAIS BOOKS ON FOOD & DRINK
RICHARD C. RAMER, OLD & RARE BOOKS
Featured item:
Gottschalk, Paul:
Berlin: Paul Gottschalk, 1927.
From an edition limited to 172 copies, 150 of which were offered for sale. A very important guide for understanding the early diplomacy and exploration of the Americas. The four Bulls issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493, as well as the Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal of 1494, set the course for the early division of exploration of the New World and Asia. As a result of the "lines of demarcation" drawn between the two nations, Portugal was given rights to most of Asia but was confined to Brazil in the Americas, while Spain was given free rein in nearly all of North and South America. Gottschalk provides historical introductions to each of the documents, and reproduces the four Bulls and the Treaty in full-size facsimiles. Also included are facsimiles of three early maps showing the line of demarcation with regard to New World exploration. Gottschalk differs from the estimable Frances Davenport, who identifies pre-Columbian papal bulls of 1455, 1456, and 1481, as having a theoretical relationship to the future discovery and exploration in the Americas. Despite that disagreement this work, giving full facsimiles and historical context for the four earliest diplomatic documents relating directly to the Americas, is a very valuable source.
89pp. plus 130 facsimiles. Folio. Original half vellum and brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Covers slightly bowed, boards a bit stained. Light foxing. Very good. In a plain dust jacket.
Offered by William Reese Company and found in "Americana E-list: Diplomacy."
- Catalog 53
- Catalog 52 (October 2023)
ROOTENBERG RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
Featured item:
DELACOUR, J. & JABOUILLE, P. Les oiseaux de l’Indochine Francaise.
Paris: Exposition Coloniale Internationale, 1931. Four volumes. 4to. [lvi], 279, xlvi; 336, lxi; 348, lxxiii; 296, lxvi pp., including half-titles in each volume. Complete with index, addenda, errata, and 67 color plates by Grønvold. Original half burgundy calf over marbled boards, gilt lettering on spine; browning and foxing to preliminary and blank leaves, otherwise a very nice wide-margined copy. First edition of a standard work on the avifauna of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
The authors spent the winter months over many years in ornithological exploration in Southeast Asia. The results of their explorations were first published in the Revue de Ornithologie and The Ibis and later gathered in this elaborate four volume set.
Delacour (1890-1985) was an American ornithologist with French origins known for discovering and breeding some of the world’s rarest birds, including the imperial pheasant. He founded the French ornithological magazine L’Oiseau. Leaving France for the United States during World War II, he ultimately became director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.
Jabouille (1875-1947), a civil servant, was chosen by Delacour as his companion because of his expertise in the birds of Indochina.
Grønvold (1858- 1940), a Danish naturalist and artist, worked at the London Natural History Museum, where he developed skills as a taxidermist and established his reputation as an ornithological illustrator and painter of birds’ eggs.
Offered by Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts and found in "Spring Catalogue 2024."
BARRY LAWRENCE RUDERMAN ANTIQUE MAPS, INC.
- Recent Acquisitions (May 7, 2024) *New*
- Recent Acquisitions (April 30, 2024) *New*
- E-Catalogue #58: 30 Holiday Gift Ideas for 2023
- E-List #57 - Another World: Fantasy & Science Fiction
- Catalog 24-2: Suppression of Contagious Diseases
- Catalog 24-1 (January 2024)
Featured item:
Leipzig, Germany. Illustrite Zeitung (Illustrated Newspaper), Circa 1845. Disbound.
This wood engraving clipped from an unidentified edition of the Illustrite Zeitung (Illustrated Newspaper), known colloquially as the ‘Leipziger,’ is undated, but information on the reverse indicates that it was published by J. J. Weber of Leipzig, Germany. It is titled, Quarantine und Marinehosital fur Einwanderer auf Staten Island, Newyorf (Quarantine Station and Marine Hospital for Immigrants at Staten Island, New York). It is in nice shape with some light toning.
It can be dated as locations of the buildings and dock exactly as shown almost identically match those shown on a map of the grounds, “Marine Hospital Ground, Staten Island . . . made by John Ewein. Dated March 1845 . . . City Surveyor.” The large building in the foreground is “[St. Nicholas] Hospital.” The center building on the hill is the “Yellow Fever Hospital.” The building to the far right is the “Small Pox Hospital.” The small buildings on the “Wharf” and “Pier” are a “Shed” and “Store House.”
Between 1795 and 1798, Yellow Fever killed thousands in New York City, spurring passage of a quarantine law that funded the construction of the New York Marine Hospital on this site. At its peak, the hospital could house 1,500 patients and was treating more than 8,000 per year. Before landing at New York, all vessels were boarded by inspectors, and if they found any trace of disease, everyone was unloaded at the Quarantine. First-class passengers spent their quarantine at the St. Nicholas while lower-class passengers were held in shanties not visible in the wood engraving.
There was considerable local opposition to the hospital, both from land developers who wished to use the grounds for projects and locals who blamed outbreaks of disease on the passengers under quarantine. The tension escalated and in 1856, a local health board prohibited anyone, including staff, from exiting the building by land. On the first of September 1858, the same board passed a resolution declaring the facility to be ”a pest and a nuisance of the most odious character, bringing death and desolation to the very doors of the people [who must abate] this abominable nuisance without delay.” That night a giant mob attacked the hospital, and after evacuating patients and staff from the buildings, burned most of the complex to the ground. The following night, they burned the rest. When later brought to trial, the mob leaders were acquitted, the jury deciding that they had acted in self-defense.
In his semi-autobiographical novel, Redbun: His First Voyage, Herman Mehlville recounts a typical chaotic scene as ships were searched and inspected by health officials and later expresses relief when upon returning to New York harbor as his ship passed the Staten Island complex, apparently unnoticed by port officials, and escaped inspection.
(For more information, see Stephenson’s “"The Quarantine War: the Burning of the New York Marine Hospital in 1858" in the Jan-Feb 2004 issue of Public Health Reports, available online.)
Uncommon. Wood engravings of the Staten Island hospital from illustrated magazines and auctions occasionally appear at auction. The majority are post-attack illustrations showing the ruins or replacement buildings.
Offered by Kurt A. Santfleben, LLC. and found in "Catalog 24-2."
- A Handfull of 19th Century American Books
- Wines and Viticulture - 17 items from 4 centuries
- List: 150th Anniversary of Mendeleev's Periodic System
- California Book Fair 2019: 130 Items on Science and Medicine is now available on request from scientiabk@gmail.com...
MARC SELVAGGIO, BOOKS & EPHEMERA
Featured item:
Broadside. Gerold & Son, ( ca. 1900), Vienna. Color lithograph, 28 x 38 1/2 inches.
I just love this image – the happy old fellow cavorting in Arctic seas, with no idea of the trouble he’s about to encounter. Gerold & Son were an old Austrian printing firm. Between 1880 and the 1920s they produced “Hartinger’s Wall Plates for the Education in Natural History,” a series of zoological and botanical chromolithographs designed for educational use in schools. This delightful image by Joseph Fleischmann shows a right whale, floating impossibly high in the water (for educational reasons, I’m sure) with a whale boat bearing down and the mother ship in the distance. As befits its subject, the lithograph is huge, measuring 28 x 38 1/2 inches. Very good condition.
Offered by Ten Pound Island Book Company and found in "Maritime List 343."
MICHAEL R. THOMPSON RARE BOOKS
- Advertising: Cosmetics, Home Goods, Quack Medicine, School Supplies, and More
- Illustrated Books: Chromolithography, Fables, Fine Printing, Women Illustrators, and More
Featured item:
Adams, Richard
New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., (1973). First US edition. Fine. Hardcover / Near fine. 8vo. ix,(3),429,(1) pp. A fine copy. The dustwrapper is clipped, and we note a small, nearly invisible stain on the rear cover, else it is near fine.
The first printing of the US edition, with the full number line on the copyright page; cream-colored binding; and with 70003 on the rear board. The dustwrapper is also first state, with the rabbit and compass repeated on the rear panel; a price of $6.95; and blurbs from UK entities. Author's first book and a classic adventure novel. Winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize.
Offered by Thorn Books and found in "May Short List."
- E-List 20, Sales, Marketing & Merchandising in the United States 1886-1973
- E-list #19: Western Americana
JOHN WINDLE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER
- List #1223: Holiday List
- List #1222: Holiday List (December, 2022)
- Portland & Environs -- catalogue issued in conjunction with the Rose City Book & Paper Fair
- Dreaming of the Open Road: Automobile Dealer Literature, Catalogue Two
Featured item:
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL (1581-1660)
Regulae seu constitutiones communes congregationis Missionis
Paris: 1658. The first edition of the rules of the Congregation of the Mission, the religious society founded by St. Vincent de Paul. Founded in 1625, the society was concerned especially with charitable works and expanded rapidly in Europe and abroad. The edition offered here is the only one published during the saint's lifetime and includes an exhortation by Vincent to this followers. There are several variants of this first edition, some have a different engraved portrait of Vincent, others have a different spelling on the title-page, and still others include an errata sheet at the end (this one does not). 12mo (12 x 6.5cm), [iv], 112pp., [ii]. Engraved title-page, engraved portrait, and engraved plate of Christ. Bound in contemporary calf, some wear to spine.
Offered by Zinos Books and found in "New Arrivals."
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